1.1
1. Using the above information and The Customer Charter, investigate this scenario. Make recommendations below to the Customer and Despatch / Supply Manager, on how you would research, clarify and assess customer needs and include in the planning process.
As indicated in the Customer Charter, customer concerns are taken under consideration with empathy and respect. Training of staffs is essential so that the advice given by staffs to customers are accurate and ends up in providing resolution for the problems faced by the customers. Also, in case of delays in service or deliveries, the onus is on the staffs to keep the customers informed about the delay. In the given scenario, the store manager Paul did not inform the customer Mr. David about the delay. When the customer called up for enquiry, the store manager was not sensitised to the constraints faced by the customer. On the contrary, Paul was not able to contain his anger and behaved rudely with the customer. The actions of the store manager were not consistent with the provisions of the Customer Charter.
The Despatch or Supply Manager needs to undertake, research, clarification and assessment of customer needs. Research is done by collation of customer satisfaction and grievances data. Clarification for customer needs can be done by direct communication with the customer and verifying from employees. The assessment may have arrived from the findings from research and clarification (Peppers and Rogers 2016 p. 70).
2 Provision is made in plans to achieve the quality, time and cost specifications agreed with customers in accordance with the organisational policies and procedures in this Case Study list which of the provisions was not achieved and compare to the Customer Service Policy.
Provision 2 of Customer Service Policy lays down the criterion that goes on to create a favourable impression for the customers. The interaction has to be such that it builds rapport with the customers. Among the specific rules in the Telephone Greeting Policy, it is categorically prohibited from interrupting the customer, and the customer’s request must be listened. It supports the broad framework laid down in the Customer Service Charter wherein staffs are authorised by the company to address customer concern. These responses help in the maintenance of excellent customer service policy and lead to overall satisfaction (Pomirleanu et al. 2016 p. 137).
In the given scenario, the time of delivery has not been maintained by the store owner, and that has led to considerable difficulty for the customer. The customer’s demand for the delivery of the camper trailers was not even taken under consideration. The response of the Store Manager did not adequately respond to the concerns of the customer.
3 Products and services are delivered to customer specifications in accordance with the organisational business plan. Customer specifications are laid out in the Customer Service Policy. Outline where the employee failed to deliver on these specifications?
According to the Customer Service Policy, delivery on the basis of customer specifications include the determination of the time for camper trailer delivery, respond to customer requests or needs and also be aware of the additional requirements of customers, if there is any. Customer request has to be resolved as per their satisfaction and complying with the store policy as well. When customer specifications are accurately addressed, it leads to customer satisfaction (Schmitz and Ganesan 2014 p. 70).
In the given case scenario, the employee of National Camper Trailers failed to deliver on all counts of specifications. Not only was the delivery of 4 trailers were not made in time to the owner of Pathfinder Pty. Ltd., but it also failed to offer assistance and make a good impression on the customer. The inadequate response and untoward behaviour of the Store Manager were unable to build rapport with the customer. The Store Manager was not aware of the additional requirement of the customer in which the absence of 4 camper trailers was creating a problem in the hire section.
4 Describe how you would coach/mentor colleague Paul to overcome difficulties in meeting customer service standards?
In the context of business, coaching staffs to meet the customer service standards involves the collaboration between the mentor and trainee to facilitate the attainment of the shared goal (Reinartz and Eisenbeiss 2015 p. 145). Referring to the Customer Complaint Feedback Form, it can be understood that mentoring of Paul requires focussing on the parameters of the disposition of the Store Manager, service management in case of staff absenteeism, lack of communication in case of delivery problems.
Attitude of employee – Customer Charter indicates that the behaviour of employees will have to be responsive and accommodative. Paul needs training in anger management and ability to keep calm under work pressure. Further training will make the staffs more empathetic and will develop efficiency in managing customer complaints.
Handling staff absenteeism – In order to retain customer service standard, Paul has to be trained in the manner in which job has to be allocated on a priority basis among limited staff strength.
Timely communication – Information in Customer Complaint Form shows that if the customer had been communicated about the delay in delivery much ahead, he could have made alternate arrangements. Paul needs coaching in communication skills.
5 Paul actions require retraining; you are to set out a Training schedule to ensure that he meets the company’s Customer Charter. Develop a Training schedule and upload.
Training of staffs in customer service standards involves learning various techniques and processes the enables delivery of better customer service that leads to meeting customer aspirations (Shen and Tang 2018 p. 103). The training schedule consistent with the company’s Customer Charter is mentioned below.
|
Authorising Persons |
Training Recipient |
Training parameters |
Initiation date |
Conclusion date |
|
Customer Service Manager and Human Resources Manager of National Campers Trailers |
Store Managers and Delivery Managers |
· Communication skills to address concerns of customers · Orientation with the company policy in terms of the alternate course of action in case of delay in delivery · Assisting customers with complaint filing procedure |
28/12/2018 16/02/2019 1/3/2019 |
15/02/2019 28/2/2019 15/3/2019 |
Table 1: Training Schedule
(Source: As created by author)
6 Within the business model, resources are used effectively and efficiently to provide quality products/ services to customers. In this Case Study, the customer didn’t receive quality service. Name and explain the resources that were not used effectively and efficiently?
Better optimisation of resources ensures quality in customer service. With greater resources at disposal, the staffs are better placed to provide satisfactory service to customers (Dhar 2015 p. 423). The resources that were not utilised effectively are mentioned below.
Staffing priority: Staffing to be prioritised in instances of despatch as in the given case scenario, the Store Manager was discharging the responsibilities of two personnel. The shortage of staffs led to many orders not being despatched. Despatch must necessarily make adequate staffing a priority to ensure timely delivery in case of availability of products.
Engagement of sales team: Sales team was not kept in the loop in despatch. It resulted in the customer not being updated on the delivery status and the approximate time in which delivery may be completed.
Timely communication is related to despatch issues: In the absence of timely communication of the delivery status of the order, the customer was unable to take an alternate course of actions that could have served the purpose.
7 From the Attached National Camper Trailers CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS / FEEDBACK FORM (CCF). Write a report below, addressed to the CEO outlining the complaint and how it was rectified.
Complaint: Delivery of 4 camper trailers was not done to Pathfinder Pty. Ltd. within the decided date of 01/12/2015. No follow up communication was done indicating the delay in despatch and setting up of another time for the delivery. When the customer interacted with the Store Manager on the following day, the customer service provided was unsatisfactory, and the behaviour of the Store Manager was hostile.
Measures taken for rectification
2.1
1 Your response to this Case Study should put forward a number of ways which NCT could add value to their service.
To deliver better services to the customers and to add values to their service providing facilities, the company shall use different measures in their business process. In regards to attracting customers, the company shall adopt and inaugurate new physical shops and outlets in the target market to achieve better customer support. Moreover, it ensures better internal working services, NCT can adopt personal presentations and workshops to develop better organizational strategies and healthy internal king culture. In this regard, this will also enhance and improve the decision-making property of the leaders and ensure proper assistance to the working employees in the organization (Dini et al. 2017 p. 201).
2 Devise a strategy you could develop to offer customers that little bit more to have them return or refer customers to your business and document who you would need to consult with.
Strategy
Acknowledging the waiting of the customers and thanking them for returning to the company for further services can make the customers more reliable to use the services and maintain a long-term relationship with the company. After sale services also help, the customers to gain the reliability of the company and achieve better company support in their services and products (Hargreaves et al. 2018 p. 48).
Consultation partners
Assessing the views, opinions and suggestion of the experts and company collaboration with the local service providers can help the company to determine the current market needs of the customer and deliver a better organizational environment in their business process.
3 Organisational systems and technologies are used to monitor progress in achieving product / service targets and standards.
How would you set targets for this program?
The foremost step to implement, the technology is to plan for the system. Depending on the nature and working process of the business, the technological requirements can be assessed in the business process. Improving communication with the employees and the contractor can help the company to place the technological changes more efficiently and appropriately. This, in turn, can help the company to improve customer care, proper HR manage, manufacturing and proper business communication in the business process (Hargreaves et al. 2018 p. 48).
How would you monitor the progress?
In order to monitor the process, the management needs to check the function process regularly. Keeping an eye on the accounting department can help the company to assess the organizational funding. Moreover, better customer attraction will show the successful implementation of the process. This will help the company to penetrate new target markets as well. In this regard, the management may discuss with employees regarding the issues and problems that they are facing. Collaborating with the most suitable software and implementation of the technologies in the production process can help the company to increase the productivity of the services and also ensure better technical stability in the business process (Khodakarami and Chan 2014 p. 34).
Where would the standards be set?
The standards can be onto the customers who determine the success of the business process directly. Successful implementation of the plan in the business process can also be seen as a significant standard on the staff and management. The technical standards in the business process can also be set on the regulatory bodies and collaborating companies in the business process. This will help the company to determine the success of the implemented plan on the external working culture as well.
4 Develop a Feedback Survey that can be added to the Sales and Marketing section of the Company’s Website with reference to Customer Service policies and procedures.
|
Survey questions |
Answers/Feedbacks |
|
Are you satisfied with the after-sale services of NCT? |
A new customer: “…Well, I called them thrice consecutively for three days. It got answered in the third day with not as such solution…” “… Telephonic calls are not answered most of the time…” |
|
Are you satisfied with the technical support provided by NCT? |
A regular customer from Dandenong region: “… yes, I am highly satisfied with their products and services and have recommended few of my relatives to opt for their services as well…” |
Table 2: Feedback Survey
(Source: As created by author)
Explain how this would be used to improve the provision of products/services.
The above survey reveals that the company provides particular concern to its regular customers. New customers are not given as such concern in the business process. To improve this, the company can implement software that makes full records of the new customers and interval and amount of after sale services provided to them. This will help the company to maintain consistency in the business market and build a long-term relationship with the new customers as well. Direct marketing and technological support shall help the Company to achieve this effectively and appropriately (Navimipour and Soltani 2016 p. 1059).
5 Decisions to overcome problems and make improvements to products/services are taken in consultation with designated individuals/groups.
With regards to the above Case Study to whom would you have consultation either individuals or group
To improve the internal communication in the business process, the group consultation with the employees and the internal stakeholders shall help the managerial heads to develop better organizational strategies and maintain proper working process in the internal business environment. This will help the company to develop organizational goals and objectives to carry out smoothly and efficiently. Moreover, to improve the external working culture of the company, the managers can involve the expert’s suggestions such as a lawyer, software developers, engineers and successful organizational managers in their business process (Khodakarami and Chan 2014 p. 34).
Why have you selected these individuals or groups and what can they offer?
|
Individuals or groups |
Benefit |
|
Employees |
Improve internal working culture |
|
Lawyer |
Help to determine and improve laws, legislation and policies that are currently being followed in NCT |
|
Software developers |
Help to develop updated software and support the system for being technically stable (Nyadzayo and Khajehzadeh 2016 p. 265) Decrease workforce |
|
Engineers |
Stable and updated electronics Mechanical stability Maintenance of the existing machines and equipment |
|
Successful organizational managers |
To develop better organizational strategies Ways to improve internal and external working culture Ways to penetrate the new target market |
Table 3: Benefits of Individuals or Groups
(Source: Nyadzayo and Khajehzadeh 2016 p. 265)
6 In your report you must make mention of the adjustments to the process you would outline to add your strategy to the company’s policies and procedures and who you would need to include in this and why.
In order to improve the communicational strategies with the customers, the Customer Relationship Manager shall need to include the higher hierarchy of the business process to discuss the changes that are needed to be brought in the company’s policy. Moreover, open discussion with the employees and front-line manager shall help the organization to determine the requirements of the customers. In this regards, proper training shall also be provided to the customer services providers and including software developer shall help the company to include the organizational management process to keep a track on the working process and after sale services to the new and regular customers (O’donnell et al. 2016 p. 68).
7 Research some of the successful strategies companies have run with to put their customers first and explain 4 of these? Example could be Rewards Points System.
|
Companies and Strategies |
Implementation process |
|
KPMG Australia: Nailing the first impression to the new customers |
This helped the company to maintain the brand name and develop a strong relationship with the customers 48% increase in the customer growth in the financial year 2013-2014 |
|
Westpac Group: Maintaining loyalty and transparency |
This helped the customers to trust the services blindly and maintain reliability with the organizational services (Soltani and Navimipour 2016 p. 670) |
|
PwC Australia: Citing shared value for building a strong relationship |
This strategy helped the company to attract new customers An increase in the sales and productivity was recorded by the company by 5% in the financial year 2012 (Soltani and Navimipour 2016 p. 670) |
|
CIMIC Group: Involvement of social media platform |
This helped the company to gather the rates and reviews of the customers and make necessary changes in the organizational functioning |
Table 4: Company, Strategies and Implementation Process
(Source: Soltani and Navimipour 2016 p. 670)
3 .1
1. List the relevant Legislations within your State / Territory and the sections that relate directly to Customer Service.
The list of relevant legislation within the Dandenong Region, which is directly related to the customer service are being mentioned below.
All the legislation and sections are set out under Australian Consumer Law (ACL) has been incorporated by the section 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 which was previously known as Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA).
In the act, it has been proposed that if a person acquires goods and services worth less than $40,000 or more than $40,000 are considered as the ‘consumer’ in the eye of the law, and they can also lodge complaints on the goods and services they have acquired (Lovelock and Patterson, 2015).
The Fair-Trading Act under Competition and Consumer Act 2010 significantly ensures that the trading should be fair enough in the market and this has been monitored by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). It also promotes business practices for constructing an efficient marketplace (O’donnell et al. 2016 p. 68).
2 Why should we consult with others to enable this company to retain an excellent customer service?
The organization consult with others for enhancing the customer service process for gaining additional knowledge from the partners and to represent their products honestly at the time of advertisement and brand promotions.
The organization also has never compromised with the safety standards. They have pledged to deliver the best quality of services and quality goods to the consumers for increasing goodwill in the external market phenomenon. The organization has also gained a lot of knowledge, and they listen to the grievances of the consumers with respect and sympathy and directs to the manufacturing units for resolving previous problems therein (Hargreaves et al. 2018 p. 48).
3 How would you handle an unplanned situation that arose which increased the volume of customer inquiries?
The organization has also handled out different unplanned and unexpected situations for increasing the customer inquiries by listening to them carefully about their grievances with respect and sympathy and directs to the manufacturing units for resolving previous problems therein. The organization has also resolved out unexpected problems by giving training to the staffs and advising to the managerial heads to be more knowledgeable and correct towards the work functions and methodology. The managers and leaders of the organization have also informed lower level staffs about the various projects which are taking a long time to complete, and many innovative ideas are also being delivered to them (Langfield-Smith et al. 2017 p. 51). In some situations, the organization could not be able to meet the demands of the consumers in for low product quality, and thus it has led in increasing the volume of the customer inquiries.
4 What is the reason why managers would monitor the activities that affect scheduling, time and quality standards?
The managers would invariably monitor out the activities that have affected the scheduling, quality standards and the time for the further development of the organization in the future pathway. The organization has pledged to represent their products with the high-quality standards, and they never compromise with the quality to the verified consumers as that would decrease the degree of goodwill in the external market phenomenon. The managers would monitor the problems to maintain the time management, quality of the products and manufacturing items within the particular time limit.
5 How important are contingency plans to providing customer service, and in what situation would you need to revise them.
The contingency plans are the developing responses for the diverse situations, which may affect the flow of the business in the future pathway. At first, entrepreneurs first think about the negative impacts that can come as a barrier in the business flow and they take early precautions for the problems. That is why it should be delivered to the consumers for increasing the level of trust. The contingency plan should be evaluated at the time when the performance of the organization is in a declining mode, and it needs to be uplifted within a specific timeframe.
6 What type of reports would be commissioned to ensure that a company has continuous improvement with customer service?
The reports on the continuous improvement models should be commissioned for measuring out the continuous improvements in the customer service. The continuous improvement model reports help the organization to find out and measure the degree of improvements that have occurred in satisfying the customer needs. The Plan-Do-Check-Act and Value Stream Mapping are some of the models on which the reports are being prepared. Kaizen and the Total Quality Management models and techniques are also some of the continuous improvement models that the organization has used in preparing reports on improvement in customer service and in satisfying the desired wants and needs of the valued customers (Akpolat 2017 p. 71).
7 What operational structures would a company have in place to improve customer service and how would they achieve this?
The National Camper Trailers has optimized for operational structures such as leadership, employee engagement, company culture, organizational structure and consistent management. The organization has specifically optimized for the leadership strategies for improving the customer services and for setting a long-term relationship with the customers. The leadership modules can be enhanced by giving appropriate training to the managers with the help of technological advancements and innovative methods. Thereby, the managers would then be the major responsible person, and thus they direct to the lower level employees for improving customer service and maintaining a long-term relationship with them (Clarke and Cheshire 2018 p. 94).
8 Why would a company solicit Customer Feedback, and what different forms could this take?
The National Camper Trailers has solicited for the customer feedback for increasing the engagement with the valued customers. The organization has also optimized for soliciting feedback from consumers because to avoid and mitigate problem-solving issues and for learning out specific customer preferences. The goods and services are manufactured by the organization to meet up the customer demands and to mitigate the further problems in a limited timeframe.
There are different forms and sources of the customer feedback, it could be like objective data or descriptive data form. It could also come from peers and subordinates in the organization (Merrilees 2016 p. 406).
9. Some companies don’t put their customers first. Explain the reasons this could be and the possible repercussions?
Some of the large organizations in Australia do not put their customers at first because they give more respect to their employees than the customers. Those organizations are intended to increase employee satisfaction, and thus they are focused on improving the internal service quality within the organizational culture. They maintain the motto “Putting employees first” as they have the service profit chain methodology at their core organizational values.
If the organization does not put their customer first, then the organization will face a huge loss as the goodwill will drop and someday the whole organization will be disappeared from the market.
10. When dealing with Customer Service within the Logistics Industry which of the following Acts of Parliament should you take into consideration when planning policy?
It should be the Trade Practises Act because all the legislation and sections are set out under Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and the act has been incorporated by the section 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 which was previously known as Trade Practises Act 1974 (TPA).
The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 has been dealing with the customer services within the logistics industry, and the organization should also take action into consideration at the time of planning policy. The act has defined the term consumers and what are their rights regarding the goods and services in the country (Abedin 2016 p. 65).
11. Which of these Codes of Practice directly are of concern to the Customers in the Logistics industry?
The consumers are much aware to the Dangerous Goods Handling Transport Codes and Practices because the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulation has been written by the Australian Government for minimizing the dangers in relation to the goods at the time of handling and transport. The Australian Government has introduced a new set of rules under Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulation and thus directed to the organizations to carry out transporting of dangerous goods by maintaining the specific compliances with the regulations and standards. The consumers also should be aware of these codes of practices for supporting the organizations in doing their tasks (Prior 2016 p. 127).
References:
Abedin, B., 2016. Diffusion of adoption of Facebook for customer relationship management in Australia: An exploratory study. Journal of Organizational and End User Computing (JOEUC), 28(1), pp.56-72.
Akpolat, H., 2017. Six sigma in transactional and service environments. Routledge.
Clarke, A. and Cheshire, L., 2018. The post-political state? The role of administrative reform in managing tensions between urban growth and liveability in Brisbane, Australia. Urban Studies, p.0042098017753096.
Dhar, R.L., 2015. Service quality and the training of employees: The mediating role of organizational commitment. Tourism Management, 46, pp.419-430.
Dini, L., Bittar, A., Robin, C., Segond, F. and Montaner, M., 2017. SOMA: The Smart Social Customer Relationship Management Tool: Handling Semantic Variability of Emotion Analysis With Hybrid Technologies. In Sentiment Analysis in Social Networks (pp. 197-209).
Hargreaves, I., Roth, D., Karim, M.R., Nayebi, M. and Ruhe, G., 2018. Effective Customer Relationship Management at ATB Financial: A Case Study on Industry-Academia Collaboration in Data Analytics. In Highlighting the Importance of Big Data Management and Analysis for Various Applications (pp. 45-59). Springer, Cham.
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Langfield-Smith, K., Smith, D., Andon, P., Hilton, R. and Thorne, H., 2017. Management accounting: Information for creating and managing value. McGraw-Hill Education Australia.
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Nyadzayo, M.W. and Khajehzadeh, S., 2016. The antecedents of customer loyalty: A moderated mediation model of customer relationship management quality and brand image. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 30, pp.262-270.
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